Mississippi State
Florida
Gators Turn Back Bulldogs In Season Finale; Lukasek Sets School Digs Record
November 18, 2007 | Volleyball
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Mississippi State held its ground for much of its season-ending Sunday afternoon match against the seventh-ranked Florida Gators before bowing to the 2007 SEC champions in straight sets (30-23, 30-19, 30-26) at the O'Connell Center. Mississippi State wrapped up its 33rd season of volleyball with a 12-17 overall record and a 7-13 mark in league competition while Florida improved to 26-1 overall and 19-1 in league play.
Senior libero Megan Lukasek set the Mississippi State record for digs in a season, tallying 18 against the Gators and finishing with a team-best 511. The St. Louis, Mo., product broke the previous school mark of 505 digs set in 1995 by Misty Farmer.
Senior setter Eva Kriegel also entered the record book for State, tying her own school single-season mark with her fifth "triple-double" of the campaign. Kriegel, from Jaszbereny, Hungary, tallied 11 kills, 10 digs and 21 assists for her school-record 13th career "triple-double".
Florida pulled away from a 20-20 tussle and out-pointed MSU down the stretch 10-3 to take the opening set. Kelsey Bowers had five kills in five swings to lead the Gators while Ioana Demian and Eva Kriegel combined for nine kills to keep the Bulldogs in the fray.
The Gators raced to a 10-2 lead in game two and were never threatened in taking a 30-19 decision and claiming a 2-0 lead in the match. Florida piled up 20 kills in the deciding third game, six by Amber McCray. State got five kills by Kriegel and three blocks by Lauren Kowal to pull to within two of the Gators at 24-22 before Florida ended the match on a Kelsey Bowers kill.
Callie Rivers had a match-high 12 kills and McCray added 11 to lead Florida. State was paced by Eva Kriegel's 11 kills and .435 hitting performance.
Ioana Demian finished with nine kills and Jamie Joyner added four. Joyner closed out her career with 1,010 career kills, eighth-most in school history.
The Bulldogs finished the year with a strong showing at the next, out-blocking the Gators 7-6. Lauren Kowal tallied a match-high five blocks, including a three solo blocks.
